Content Creation Content creation is the contribution of information to any media and most especially to digital media for an end-user/audience in specific contexts. Content is "something that is to be expressed through some medium, as speech, writing or any of various arts" for self-expression, distribution, marketing and/or publication. Typical forms of content creation include maintaining and updating web sites, blogging, article writing, photography, videography, online commentary. Content Creators News organizations News organizations, especially the biggest and more international, such as The New York Times, NPR, and CNN , BBC and others, consistently create some of the most shared content on the Web. The social media site Twitter is a major distributor of breaking news in traditional formats, and many Twitter users are media professionals. The function and value of Twitter in the distribution of news is a frequent topic of discussion and research in journalism. User- generated content, social media blogging and citizen journalism have changed the nature of news content in recent years. The company Narrative Science is now using artificial intelligence to produce news articles and interpret data. Colleges, universities and think tanks Academic institutions, such as colleges and universities, create content in the form of books, journal articles, white papers (A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision.), and some forms of digital scholarship, such as blogs that are group edited by academics, class wikis, or video lectures that support a massive open online course (MOOC). Institutions may even make the raw data supporting their experiments or conclusions available on the Web through an open data initiative. Academic content may be gathered and made accessible to other academics or the public through publications, databases, libraries and digital libraries. @suchitralearning.com Companies Corporate content includes advertising and public relations content, as well as other types of content produced for profit, including white papers and sponsored research companies also create annual reports which count as content creation as it is part of their company's workings and a detailed review of their financial year. This gives the stakeholders of the company insight of the company's current and future prospects and direction. Artists and writers Cultural works, like music, movies, literature, and art, are also forms of content. Traditionally published books and e-books are one type of cultural content, but there are many others, such as self-published books, digital art, fan fiction, and fan art. Independent artists, including authors and musicians, have found commercial success by making their work available on the Internet. These changes have revolutionized the publishing and music industries. Government Through digitization, sunshine laws, open records laws and data collection, governments may make whole classes of statistical, legal or regulatory information available on the Internet. National libraries and state archives turn historical documents, public records, and unique relics into online databases and exhibits. At times, this has raised significant privacy issues. Governments can also use open content, like public records and open data in the service of public health, educational and scientific goals. Users With the introduction of Web 2.0 came the possibility of content consumers being more involved in the generation and sharing of content. Also with the coming of digital media and the ease of access at home, the amount of user generated content has increased as well as the age and class range. Eight percent of Internet users are very active in content creation and consumption. Worldwide, about one in four Internet users are significant content creators, and users in emerging markets lead the world in engagement. Research has also found that young adults of a higher socioeconomic background tend to create more content than young adults from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. @suchitralearning.com Teen users Younger users now have more access to content and content creating applications and publishing to different types of media, for example, Facebook, DeviantArt, or Tumblr. As of 2005, around 21 million teens used the internet. Among these 57%, or 12 million teens, are Content Creators. This creation and sharing was happening at a far higher level than with adults. ISSUES Quality The rise of anonymous and user-generated content presents both opportunities and challenges to Web users. Blogging, self-publishing and other forms of content creation give more people access to larger audiences. However, this can also perpetuate rumours and lead to misinformation. It can make it more difficult to find quality content that meets users' information needs. Metadata Digital content is difficult to organize and categorize. Websites, forums, and publishers all have different standards for metadata, or information about the content, such as its author and date of creation. The perpetuation of different standards of metadata can create problems of access and discoverability. Intellectual property The ownership, origin, and right to share digital content can be difficult to establish. On one hand, user-generated content presents challenges to traditional content creators with regard to the expansion of unlicensed and unauthorized derivative works, piracy and plagiarism. How to produce content? Writing great content is a choice. You can choose to put in the time and work required to create great content and build a prosperous brand. Or you can choose to take the easy path @suchitralearning.com and write poor content – a path that ultimately will get you nowhere. It will only result in a waste of time, energy and resources. First, let’s look at what makes great content, and then we’ll move on to sites that produce great content. 1. Create Original Content As mentioned, original content goes a long way with Google and your visitors. Copying other people’s content will result in a punishment from Google. But let’s take this a little further. Original also means originality. Your ideas should be original! Rehashing the same concepts or other posts over and over again is not original. If your content is played out, no one will link to it – and those defeats the purpose of writing content in the first place. 2. Always Focus On Creating Strong Headlines A good headline sparks interest and invites readers in. Consider these great statistics from Copy blogger: 80% of people will read your headlines. But only 20% of those people will read the rest of your content! And that is why the headline is as important as the article or post itself. 3. Make Your Content Actionable What was the last blog post you wrote? Did it give readers advice on how they can apply the lessons right away? The best content gives the user a sense of how to apply the information. It doesn’t degrade users by telling them what to do, but rather respects them and provides them with assurance that they know best how to use the material. When you write your blog post, give users tips on applying what you are offering them. Many times, just writing well about a topic will spark some ideas for readers. Why do people read non-fiction? To learn and become better. Help your readers do the same. 4. Be Able to Provide Answers What is the ultimate purpose of a search engine? Most people would be correct in saying “to deliver sets of answers.” Google is great at this. Type a query into Google and you’ll be presented with links, pictures, and videos. @suchitralearning.com When people use a search engine, what they ultimately want is an answer, and it’s the search engine’s job to deliver that answer. It’s the same when people are reading a blog post, viewing an info-graphic or watching a video — they want an answer so they can gain knowledge. An additional tip here is: people don’t just want answers, they want answers fast. So make your content easy to scan so people can pick up the juicy, important bits quickly. Read any title and subtitle of a non-fiction book or article. Ultimately, what it leaves the reader with is a question or a sense of curiosity. It is then the author’s job to deliver answers and have supporting information. 5. Be Accurate in Your Reporting and Sourcing of Information Think about this: you write an article for your company’s blog, thousands of people read it, and some of what you wrote turns out to be inaccurate. Can you imagine what damage this can do to your company and your personal reputation? Keep in mind, your blog is a reflection of your company. If there are any issues with the blog, it impacts how people view your product. It’s important that any statistic you state can be verified. Many blog posts will link right to the statistic and the source. Accuracy builds trust with readers. Here are some tips to think about when you’re mulling over the issues of accuracy: Consider who you are linking to. Are they a trusted and authoritative source? Linking to other quality websites will earn more trust from your readers. Linking to more content can only help. The more you can back up and substantiate what you are writing about, the more trusted your content will become. Help the search engines out. Linking to other sources and content will help the search engines figure out what your content is about, and how it should be categorized. 6. Create Engaging and Thought Provoking Content An engaged audience hangs on to your every word and takes in all that you write or say.